Déjà vu All Over Again

Another game, another two hits and two RBIs for Jake Burger and Danny Mendick. Another crappy outing by Lucas Giolito; another 0-for-day from Yoan Moncada; more bad moves by White Sox manager Tony La Russa, another 11-9 loss for his team, this time to the Rangers in ten innings yesterday at home. Giolito had a 5-0 lead going into the fifth inning but felt a sudden need to give four runs back. After the game, Giolito told reporters he was “disgusted in myself.” That makes two of us Lucas. You’ve been saying that a lot these past two seasons, haven’t you? Maybe he’ll ask for less in free agency if he can’t figure out how to pitch by the end of next season. Do you know how many pitchers the Sox were carrying yesterday? Kudos to you if you guessed fourteen. And yet La Russa all but said before the game that the bullpen would be short because certain pitchers needed rest. God forbid our HOF manager is mishandling his pen. No, he must’ve had good reasons to bring in Bennett Sousa with the Sox up by two in the seventh inning. And what did Sousa do? Why, he managed a groundout before giving up a single and run-scoring double, the runner going to third on an error. Skip brought in a new pitcher who gave up a sacrifice fly to tie the score, and after that it was just a matter of time. Sousa now sports a 9.00 ERA, by the way. Wait, there’s more. Moncada went 0-for-5 on the day with three strikeouts, his first in the bottom of the first being the worst, bases loaded and a 3-0 count. Our ostensible rebuild cornerstone is now hitting an anemic .133. Somewhere, Mario Mendoza smiles. And while we’re accentuating the negative, let’s not forget Jose Abreu, who has twenty-four RBIs in 206 at-bats. Consider that Jake Burger has twenty-two in 125 or Andrew Vaughn twenty-five in 146, and you have cause for concern our first baseman is slowing down. Oh, well. All that matters is our HOF manager taking responsibility. “Never have dodged accountability,” he was quoted on the team website today, “and I won’t start now.” Now, tell me this: What’s accountability without consequences?